Monday, April 16, 2018

No, just move to digital cash

Should America go cash-free? Jeff Spross
It helps in this case to think of the bank system and the cash system as two separate things. Practically speaking, getting rid of physical cash would mean relying exclusively on the banking system to carry out all our exchanges. But while cash in America and most everywhere else is a public good provided by the government, the banking system is a for-profit businesses.The cash system creates two-party exchanges: If you want to buy something, and a business wants to sell it, you give them cash and that's that. But if the transaction is run through the banking system, it becomes a three-party exchange: you, the business, and the banking middleman. If it's not profitable for the middleman to facilitate the exchange, then it won't. And the exchange won't happen.
Jeff is slow to the debate, we have already rejected cashless. Instead we go to pure digital liquidity on all assets backed by human thumbprint.  Everyone gets a digital, counterfeit proofed, smart  plastic cash card. The card itself is the bank in that it holds secure digits and obeys the double spend rules. 

We actually have some cards today that work but they rely excessively on remote controlled escrow instructions.

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